


Flowers Are Romatic

by daintylemonsquare



Category: Join the Party (Podcast)
Genre: Childhood Friends, F/F, Finaellie, Fluff, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-27 19:09:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20412844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daintylemonsquare/pseuds/daintylemonsquare
Summary: Finale meets a girl in the woods and they became friends.





	Flowers Are Romatic

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly inspired by the Afterparty of Hunting Party V where Sarah (Hi Sarah!) said, "Ellie is a human girl who Finale, you know, they sort of grew up together." And Amanda said, in the middle of it all, "Cute! Yes!" I felt that.

Finale wasn’t one for flowers. She had no idea what each of them symbolized and paid no attention when one of her dads tried to teach her while he was making his quarterly floral arrangement, even though she spent a good amount of her childhood foraging with him. The only thing she learned was impermanence. Even with magic, the flowers withered soon enough. No matter how beautiful and how rare and how tenderly they were taken care of, the flowers ended up in the ground. Everything had an end. 

Her dad always got a little huffy whenever she brought that up. She did that a lot as a teenager. He insisted that it was an ineffable cycle and that endings always brought new beginnings. She rolled her eyes and went to her room straight after breakfast, lunch, or dinner, depending on the mood she was on. Then she’d stare at the wilting flowers she tied upside down to the ceiling and remind herself that she was right. 

Her other dad would say, “Oh leave her be. She’s—as the kids say—just going through it.” He was careful not to say that when Finale was around. 

As she grew older, she appreciated the aesthetics objectively and picked less of the pettier arguments. She still didn’t see much of the appeal for herself, but she understood it. 

Which was why she was climbing up the Friar’s doorstep with a lush bouquet of summer flowers in her hands. She was careful not to crush them in her trembling hands. Her dads were happy enough to offer help but she did this on her own.

Finale bought it in a nearby marketplace after her initial attempt to create her own ended with an accidental wasp sting and ripped ribbons. She wouldn’t have bothered if this wasn’t the most important conversation she was going to have. Though the Friars were lukewarm—tepid, some may say—to her, at best, she still needed to impress and woo. She could’ve convinced Ellie to elope, but Finale wanted to do this the right way. After all, she’d done everything else the wrong way, she was surprised they didn’t forbid them to see each other. 

She knocked on the door and stood her ground as her body ached to run away. One of the two varnished doors opened to show Mx. Friar. Their brows arched. A smile struggled to appear for a second. “Finale,” they almost sighed. “Ellie’s just left for the corn farm to check on the workers there.” 

“I know,” Finale started. Their lips pursed. “I mean! No, I actually wanted to talk to you and the other Mx. Friar. May I please come inside? It’ll only be for a few minutes.” Finale met their eyes once and then bowed her head, waiting for the first verdict. 

Mx. Friar hummed. Sweat beaded on the small of Finale’s back. “I suppose we have time. I’ll call for my partner. They’re probably in one of the studies.” 

“Cool. I mean! Yeah. I mean! Thank you.” If Mx. Friar wasn’t going to slap her, she was going to do it herself. Thankfully, they provided no further comments and gestured for Finale to enter. Finale tried not to slump with relief. She offered the bouquet. “Here. For you.” 

“Oh…” And there it was. One of those actual smiles. Her heart’s tempo didn’t wane but it was drumming to a steadier beat. “Thank you.” She was rarely in the receiving end of those. She could count on two hands the amount of times they smiled at her like they meant it and she’d known the Friars long enough that she should’ve gotten to her toes by now. 

* * *

Surprisingly, the first smile Finale received from them wasn’t when she brought Ellie home after she ran away. Or as Finale liked to think of it, when she saved Ellie’s life. Ellie had her own version of the story, but Finale didn’t put any effort in remembering it. They were old enough to wander but young enough that they should’ve had someone watching them. 

Finale’s dads weren’t too strict. She was perceptive and smarter than most kids her age so, as long as she stayed on the trail and never went past the stream near their home, she was free to rome. She was still at that tender age of accepting and then following her dads’ rules. 

That was when she found a girl in a red dress and orange rain boots sitting cross legged against a tree with a map sprawled in front of her. Books kept the map from curling inwards as she surveyed it. Her brown hair was pushed back by a large ribbon. Her fair face was pink with exertion. She glared at the map. 

“Hi,” Finale said, not thinking much about it. 

The girl leapt to her feet, stumbled a little, then pointed a large stick at Finale. “Who are you? What do you want?” 

Finale cocked her head. “Um...I’m Finale Wormwood. I want...bread. With a lot of butter.” 

“You’re not a highwayman or a bandit or a thief?” The girl asked, still brandishing her stick. 

“I’m a girl,” Finale answered, more confused than insulted. She approached. The girl flinched backwards then stepped forward with the stick. “What are you doing?” 

At the same time, the girl said, “Don’t come any closer!” 

Finale, nonplussed, kept going and yanked the stick out of the girl’s hands without any problems. The girl pouted. “Why do you have a map?” Finale looked around and there was a little mauve pack resting on one of the tree roots. There was a canteen beside it. The map itself had little ink marks on them. Finale couldn’t read too well just yet but she understood arrows and circles. “Why do you want to go to Infropolis? That’s days away, even in a carriage. Pops brought me there once. It was terrible.” 

The girl huffed and took the stick back. “It’s not terrible. Infropolis was where I lived.” 

“Oh...Sorry,” Finale said, not really meaning it. Infropolis was a terrible city with terrible noise and terrible people and terrible vehicles that didn’t need horses. “Aren’t you going back?” Most people in the area were hikers, tourists, and adventurers. Not too many people put their roots down here, which was why Finale was allowed to walk around. She got too bored, especially during fall when most of her friends went to school in less rural areas. 

“That’s what I’m doing,” the girl grumbled and sat down again. Finale sat with her. “What are you doing?” She growled. 

Finale shrugged. “Got nothing better to do. What’s your name?” 

The girl stared at her for a moment then sighed. “Ellie. Ellie Friar.” 

“Okay…And what do you want?”

“To go home,” Ellie Friar said with a heavy frown. 

Finale stared at the map for a second then it hit her. “Friar! You’re that family who bought all those farms over there?” She pointed in a direction that wasn’t necessarily the correct direction of said farm. Ellie didn’t look at her. “Isn’t home that way?” 

“No. It’s not.” She pointed to the map. “That’s home.” 

“It’s still a long way there.” 

“I don’t care.” 

Finale mulled it over. Nobody shouldn’t be away from home. She would be devastated if she had to live anywhere other than their cottage and not wake up to the birds or smell the view during spring. Even if Infropolis wasn’t her favorite place, maybe Ellie thought about the same thing. 

“I know a way,” Finale said. 

“You do?” Ellie turned and her eyes were a little wet around the rims. Finale wiped her hand on her shirt then wiped Ellie’s tears. She was going to get this girl home. Her parents always told her to help others where she could and to always be kind. This was going to be a story she could tell them and they were definitely going to let her have more butter next time.

“Yeah.” 

There was usually a caravan to the city at the main road. Mostly produce and animals but Ellie was small enough to sneak in. It wouldn’t be too far, if the stay on the path. Her parents wouldn’t be too worried. She was going to be home by dinner, for sure.

Ellie didn’t talk much. When she did, it was a monosyllabic answer to a question. Finale didn’t mind for the first couple of minutes then it got lonely. She made her noise. She talked about the trees she liked, the animals she liked, the sky, her dads, what they did, how she was homeschooled, and how she sometimes crossed over the stream even though her dads told her not to. This was the farthest she’d gone alone. The path was getting a little overgrown in places but she always found a way to stay on it. They did stray, only for a moment. There was a clearing with a view. She noticed it when they passed by a campsite that many adventurers rested every other week. It was one of Finale’s favorites. Ellie didn’t talk about it but she didn’t outright disagree when Finale talked about the time they camped here and she saw the most beautiful sky of stars. 

Soon enough, the sky rumbled and crackled. Each time it did, Ellie squeaked but when Finale asked if she was afraid, she shook her head and asked Finale to keep guiding her. Finale knew she was lying but what was bravery if not lying through the fear? 

It began to rain and they found a tree with a hollow big enough to fit both of them. While Ellie was huddled into the farthest corner, Finale stood right under the lip. She held out her hand, feeling the rain on her skin. She took in a deep breath of petrichor and sighed it out. Normally, she would’ve danced in the rain but she was too far from home to get a blanket, warm clothes, and a glowing hearth before she got sick. The thunder and lightning didn’t bother her. It used to, now it didn’t. Dad told her that it was just Adamah cleaning up Her bathroom. Pops told her something that required more math. 

Another flash of lightning. Another boom of thunder. Ellie cried out. Finale turned around. “Are you okay? Did something bite?” She asked. There were some creatures here that bite. Nothing too bad though. Once, she was bitten but she only cried for an hour. She used to cry way longer than that. 

“No...I’m just…” Lightning. Thunder. Whimper. “Sorry. I lied. I’m scared of the thunder. My guard told me it’s just Adamah cleaning up but it sounds so scary.” 

“Your guard?” 

“Guardian. I call one of them ‘guard,’ and the other one is ‘parent.’” 

“Okay...I call one of mine ‘Dad,’ and the other ‘Pops.’” 

Another strike of thunder and Ellie was on her knees, clutching her ears. Finale sat beside her. “You shouldn’t be scared. Wherever the lightning is, it’s far away.” 

“How do you know?” Ellie mumbled. 

“Look.” They waited for a flash to happen. When it did, Finale counted, “one...two...three…” Then the thunder came. Ellie still whimpered but Finale continued, “Pops said that every second thunder doesn’t show up after lightning, it’s one mile. The lightning, the part that actually hurts, is three miles away. So, you shouldn’t be scared. Be scared if it’s one mile away, at least.” 

“Is that true?” Ellie asked. 

“Probably. I don’t know. Pops lived here long enough, I guess.” Ellie flinched at the subsequent crack from the sky. “I’ll count with you.” 

And so they counted until Ellie could count for herself. She stared out the tree, eyes wide and hardly blinking, but Finale noted that she wasn’t cowering anymore. Finale kept talking. She told Ellie about all the times she ran around in the rain, sometimes with her friends, most of the time alone. This time Ellie asked questions. Finale’s friends? In a human town a couple of days away. Finale’s fathers? Two kind dwarves who adopted her. Adopted? It meant that they found her and loved her as though she was their own baby girl. They went on until the rain stopped. 

“It’s getting dark,” Ellie said. 

“We’re almost there. I can see in the dark so we’ll be fine.” Finale glanced back at the direction they came from. A tiny prick of anxiety nipped at her heels as she wondered how she was going to get back. There was a trail. She just wasn’t sure how safe that trail was at night. 

They reached the main road. It was wide and flat and muddy. There were fresh tracks on the ground. It didn’t take Pops telling her that they missed the caravan. 

Finale told Ellie as much. “Sorry. The rain made us stay too long in one place.” 

Ellie, who was wet and covered in mud after a short trip, whose hair lost its ribbon an hour ago, looked down the road. She rubbed her tears away faster than Finale could say anything about it. “I hate it here.” 

“It’s not so bad.” 

“But all my friends are there.” She pointed. “My room. My house. My playground.” 

“You have a playground?” 

Ellie kept talking like Finale’s comment wasn’t right there. “I don’t know why they moved us to this dumb place. Why do we have to take care of the farm? Someone else can take care of it! The place is gross. It’s loud at night. And super dark. I can’t just look out the window and see lights when I wake up in the middle of the night. The bed smells weird. I have to walk everywhere. I hate it here.” She stamped her foot. Tears were streaming. Her cheeks were now an angrier shade of pink. 

“Why are you mad at me? I helped you get here. It’s not my fault you missed the caravan.” 

Ellie groaned. “I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at my parents for dragging me here.” 

Finale glanced around. Some of the shops were closing up. There was a tavern a few minutes away but Dad told her never to go there, ever. She wasn’t sure why. People came out always singing a bard’s song. The bard usually had someone hugging them. “We could try again tomorrow.” 

Ellie snorted. “I ran away. I’m not coming back.” 

“Well, you have to spend the night somewhere. Do you have coins?” 

Ellie dug in her bag and pulled out a little pink pouch. Finale looked inside. It was mostly cooper, some silver. There was one gold one after she shook it around. “Yeah. I guess this is enough.” Finale began walking. 

“Where are we going?” 

“There’s a tavern. Dad told me not to go there but how bad could it be? There’s still some light out.” 

By the time they got to the tavern, some bard was already singing along about her party’s deeds. There was a lot of cheering and jeering and laughing. They stood outside, all these people stumbling around them. It smelled of that drink her dads brought out during special holidays, or when Nana Woodsie visited, but, like, everywhere and heavier. Stinkier. There were a few guys that looked at them weird, in a way that made Finale’s skin feel like it was trying to melt away. 

This was how bad it could be. 

“Hey, aren’t you that Friar girl?” One man slunk over. Finale held Ellie’s stick up between them. He didn’t seem to notice. “Your weirdo parents fired me! Fuckin’—after all I’d done for that farm? And they toss me out ‘cause I was ‘uncouth’ or whatever you pronounce it.” He poked Ellie’s shoulder. Finale was surprised she didn’t yelp. “You tell them that they’re a couple of fucking—” 

Finale swung her foot into his crotch then slammed the stick over his head. He fell over, keening and cursing. “Run!” Ellie didn’t have to be told twice. 

As they went back to the trail, Finale turned to Ellie, breathless, “There’s a shed behind my cottage.” 

“That’s fine!” 

The walk home was more difficult now that it was getting too dark for Ellie to see. Finale was definitely missing dinner and she had no good excuses. Until, of course, Finale realized, as she helped Ellie through a thicket of thorny bushes for a second time, that she could just tell them that she was helping a new friend. At this point, Ellie looked nothing like a rich person, so she could just say Ellie was a lost orphan that she was trying to help. She’d be a hero. That should at least help her stay out of trouble. She told this to Ellie and Ellie agreed. They practiced their story all the way home. 

What she neglected to mention or remember was that one of her fathers was the go-to ranger around these parts. As soon as they appeared at the Wormwood’s doorstep, Ellie’s tear-stained, hysterical parents were sitting at the table. 

“Ellie?” One of them looked up. 

Finale stepped in front of Ellie and said, “No? This is Smellie. She’s a half-elf orphan who got lost in our woods.” Unfortunately, no one bought it, no matter how much Finale insisted. Even Ellie told her to drop it. 

Neither pair of parents were happy the two of them were out in the forest at night. Less when Finale said she was just trying to help. So unhappy that neither girl mentioned going to the tavern. Ellie still put up a big fuss before she was brought home. One of her parents cast a sleeping spell on her. They frowned all the way out of the house, even at Finale, who expected the tiniest bit of gratitude for keeping their daughter alive through the afternoon. 

Finale’s parents weren’t too upset. They didn’t like that she walked away with a stranger in the afternoon, so she wasn’t getting any more butter. She protested, but her dad ended the discussion.

Pops came up later that night to give her some toasted bread and more butter than she’d ever seen them have on the table. 

“You were brave tonight,” he whispered. “Dad just got so worried he got angry, okay?” 

“Like that time you came home after helping adventurers fight two ettercaps?” 

“Yup.” He chuckled. “But I want you to know that even though what you did was wrong and you should never do it again, I’m proud of you for wanting to help and for guiding Ellie through the forest.” 

Finale munched on her toast. “Do you think her parents will let me see her again?” 

“I don’t know, baby girl.” He ruffled her black hair and tucked a strand behind her ear. “Let’s just hope they don’t buy our side of the mountain and kick us out.” 

“Can they do that?” 

“Not if your Dad and I have anything to say about it.” 

After the toast crumbs were brushed off and her dad went off to quell her other dad’s heightened state of parental panic, Finale looked out her window. There was a five-star constellation that they always pointed out. There were more around them but it was the only one she remembered. She heard bards singing about wishing on a star. Her parents often argued whether or not that was real. 

Nevertheless, Finale wished for Ellie to be okay and that they could be friends. Ellie might be wishing to go back to Infropolis at the same time though. Finale was okay with that too. She amended her wish for a friend. It didn’t have to be Ellie. 

**Author's Note:**

> This was meant to be a one-shot but I ended up creating bigger vignettes and my mind was being a big meanie so I had to chop it up. I hope to get the whole thing done by the end of November!


End file.
